08-08-2018, 12:23 PM
[#0000FF]Highly doubtful that cats eat enough wiper fry to make any difference. On the other hand, there are a lot of wipers caught with young channel cats in their innards. Here is a pic of one from a wiper I pictured during a fillet session at Willard.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]My read on the apparent increase in both size and numbers of cats is that it is also due to higher water levels...along with decreases in numbers of wipers. When water levels remain well up into the rocks along the dike, there is more spawning and nursery habitat for cats. Ditto for crawdads...a big menu item for channel cats. But during the early months of the year wipers also subsist by eating crawdads, before the shad get big enough to munch. So, double whammy. More food for the cats and less competition for that food from fewer wipers.
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[#0000FF][inline "BABY CAT.jpg"]
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[#0000FF]My read on the apparent increase in both size and numbers of cats is that it is also due to higher water levels...along with decreases in numbers of wipers. When water levels remain well up into the rocks along the dike, there is more spawning and nursery habitat for cats. Ditto for crawdads...a big menu item for channel cats. But during the early months of the year wipers also subsist by eating crawdads, before the shad get big enough to munch. So, double whammy. More food for the cats and less competition for that food from fewer wipers.
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